“EXPERIMENT # 4”

“Work Energy Theorem”

LAB REPORT # 03

Group Name: Purple (05)

Group Leader: Muhammad Awais Nazir
Section: ME-09 (A)- Freshmen
Department: Mechanical Engineering
Submitted to: Sir Khurram Shah

Members Roll no.

Muhammad Awais Nazir 200501010

Khawaja Hassaan Aziz 200501039

Muhammad Talha Imran 200501076

Humza Muhammad Shahid 200501068

Abdul Haseeb Shakir 200501023

Muhammad Imran 200501021

Experimental Objective:
The objective of this experiment is to examine the conversion of work into kinetic
energy, specifically work done by the force of gravity. The work-kinetic energy
theorem equates the net force (gravity, friction, air resistance, etc.)

THEORY:
Work:
Simply; when we talk about the work it’s something which makes us tired like
reading, walking, painting etc. But in physics work is said to be done when a force
acts on a body and a body covers some displacement in the direction of force. So
the formula of work done is given below;
Mathematical Form:

Work = Force * Displacement

W = F.D
W = FD𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽

So, work is the dot product of force and displacement which means work is a scalar
quantity.

W= Nm

SI UNIT:

The unit of force is newton and meter is the unit of displacement. So unit of work
is newton meter. The SI unit of work is Joule. One joule is equivalent to one
Newton force causing a displacement of one meter.
WORK CAN EITHER BE NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE:
There are two types of work positive and negative work. When force is in the same
direction of displacement then it is positive work. When force is opposite to the
direction of displacement then it is called negative work. So from the formula we
can conclude that work is only done when displacement occurs no displacement
means no work.
Work-Energy Theorem:

The principle of work energy theorem states that all the work done on a body is
equal to the change of kinetic energy of the body. The work W done by the net
force on a particle equals the change in the particle’s kinetic energy KE:
W= ΔKE=KEf - KEi

W=½ mvf2 - ½ mv02

Where vi and vf are the speeds of the body and m is the particle’s mass.

Derivation:
In simple, we will consider case in which resultant force F is constant in both
magnitude and direction and is parallel to the velocity of particle. The particle is
moving with constant acceleration along a straight line. The relationship between
net force and acceleration is given by equation F = ma (Newton’s second law), and
the particle’s displacement d, can be determined from the equation:
v2f=v2i+2ad
Obtaining,

d=v2f – v2i / 2a

The work of the net force is calculated as the product of its magnitude (F=ma) and
the particle’s displacement. Substituting the above equations yields:

W = F.D

W = ma vf2-vi2 /2a

W = ½ mvf2 - ½ mv02

W=KEf−KEi=ΔKE
So the total work is equal to the change in the kinetic energy. Which is also equal
to the area under the curve. A graph plot between force and position having force
in vertical axis and position in horizontal axis. So in this experiment we will prove
that total work is equal to the change in kinetic energy by using the graph plot
against force vs. position.

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP:-
In this work energy theorem experiment, we have pasCar, high resolution force
sensor, motion sensor, endstop and a bracket on the dynamic track. We also have
850 universal interface on which motion sensor and force sensor is connected in
PASPORT input.
➢ First of all, we need to straight down the dynamic track so the PasCar
reamins steady on the track. The track will be leveled by rotating the foots
level of dynamic track system in anticlockwise manner.
➢ Secondly, the high resolution force sensor is attached to the discover bracket
collision and the bracket is attached to the track.
➢ Then the we will set a Endstop before the hook at force sensor to prevent the
collision of PasCar with the force sensor. The distance between the hook and
Endstop should be 1cm.
➢ The Motion sensor will be attached to the other end of dynamic track with a
slight tilt downward towards the track.
➢ Both the sensor will be connected to the PasPort input on 850 universal
Interface.
➢ In the end we will take a long weak spring from the dynamic spring system.
➢ This spring is attached to the hook on the force sensor by a braided thread
which passes through the hole in Endstop so that the spring is 5cm from the
Endstop.
➢ Place a plunger in the PasCar making sure that it is outside the car.
➢ The other end of the thread is connected to the upper hole in PasCar such
that there is 20cm of string between string and the car not the plunger.
➢ Our setup is completed.
Procedure:
The procedure of work energy theorem contains the following main steps.
1. First of all, to conduct the experiment we will place one of the PASCAR
consisting of a long spring and one short spring on the weighing balance.
The measurements have to be updated in the calculator.
2. Then we will press the Zero button on the Force sensor (measure the
changing force). After that we will attach the cart with the long spring into
the setup. The spring should be stretched about 30 cm. Then pull the cart
until it is 15 cm away from the Motion sensor (records the resulting velocity
of cart).
3. Now click Record. Once the green light opens from the motion sensor,
release the cart. The recording will stop automatically. If data is much noisy,
then delete it and run again. Click open data summary and rename this run as
Long Spring.
4. Then replace the cart with the long and strong springs and repeat steps 2-3.
Again rename the run as Short Spring.
5. In the table of Work vs. Position, click the top of each column and select
Long Spring. On the graph click the black triangle by the run select icon and
select Long Spring. Also click the Selection icon to use the handles on
selection box that moves the left side of the box to the point before data
starts. Move the right side of the box to 20m.
6. Now click the Area icon on the graph toolbar to run on the area tool. The
area which is shown in the graph is the area under the curve inside the
selection box. This area is equal to the work done by the spring.
7. If the Area does not have 3 decimal places, change the number of fixed
decimals to 4 and then back to 3.
8. In the Work vs. Position table, all the position values on the graph are
highlighted in yellow. In the first row enter zero as no work done on the car
until the car moves. Then come down to the last position (0.20m) and record
the area from the graph in to the work (W) column.
9. Drag the right side of the selection box to 0.25m. Then come down to the
last highlighted column and record the area from the graph to work (W)
column.
10.Repeat the above process for Short spring.
 11.Click the Run Select icon to allow multiple runs. Select both Long and Short
springs. The Kinetic energy and Work curves should be shown for both
springs.

Calculations:
GRAPH FOR WEAK SPRING:

GRAPH FOR STRONG SPRING:

GRAPH FOR CALIBRATE RUN:

WORK DONE USING AREA UNDER THE CURVE:

WEAK SPRING:
STRONG SPRING:

CALIBRATE RUN:
GRAPH FOR ENERGY REQUIRED TO DO WORK:

Conclusions:
Questions:

Q_1 : Why do the graphs start off steep ( at small positions ) and then become
less steep ?
As the net force is the vector sum of all forces acting on an object during the
displacement and the net force varies at every instant in the graph. Due to this
reason the graph starts off steep and then becomes less steep.
Q_2 : What effects could decrease the translational K.E of the cart ?
Effects that decrease the translational K.E of the cart are the opposing force from
the cart, this include;
• Friction
• Air resistance
 • String that was attached to the cart

Q_3 : How do the curves agree with the equation (3) from theory ?
All the curves agree with the equation ;
𝑥𝑓
𝑊 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = ∫ 𝐹𝑛𝑒𝑡 𝑑𝑥
𝑥0

This is because the total work done is calculated as an integral and this integral is
equal to the area under the curve.
Q_4 : Are there any position where K.E is larger than work done? If so, how is
this possible ?
No, there is no any position where K.E is larger than work done because according
to work energy theorem. Work done Is Equal To The Change In Kinetic energy.
Q_5 : What equation governs the force with which the spring will add kinetic
energy to the PasCar ?
An equation that governs the force with which the spring will add kinetic energy to
the PasCar is under ;
2 2
𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = ½ mv - ½ mv
f 0
2
= ½ m(∆v )
𝑊𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 = ∆𝐾𝐸 = 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐾𝐸